Eating healthy foods is essential to maintaining your overall health. Our balanced and delicious approach to healthy eating allows you to follow and enjoy a nutrient-rich diet.

Fruits and vegetables are natural sources of vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber—and excellent alternatives to higher-calorie foods.

Whole grains (as opposed to refined grains) contain fiber and other healthful nutrients that help improve your heart health. Look for the words “whole” or “whole grain” at the top of the ingredient list.

A diet low in sodium can help you manage your blood pressure and reduce your risk of heart disease and stroke.

Limiting the saturated and trans fats in your diet helps lower blood cholesterol. High cholesterol can contribute to artery blockage and increase the risk of heart attack or stroke.

A healthy-eating plan will help you control your blood sugar (glucose), manage your weight, and limit heart disease risk factors such as high blood pressure and high blood fats. Diabetes meal planning focuses on eating three meals a day at regular times. Consistent meals help control blood sugar.

During digestion, sugars (simple carbohydrates) and starches (complex carbohydrates) break down into blood glucose. Consider eating healthy carbohydrates, such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, and low-fat dairy products, such as milk and yogurt. Try to limit food or drinks with added fats, sugars, and sodium.

Foods containing monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats can help lower your cholesterol levels. These include avocados, nuts, olive oil, and peanut oil. But don’t overdo it, as all fats are high in calories.

Dietary fiber includes all parts of plant foods that your body can’t digest or absorb. Fiber promotes healthy digestion and helps control blood sugar levels. Foods high in fiber include vegetables, fruits, nuts, legumes, and whole grains.

Stay away from foods rich in saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol, and sodium.

People with kidney disease may need to control the amount of protein, sodium, potassium, phosphorus, and calcium in their diets. Our renal-friendly menus support your nutritional needs by:

• Providing energy to do your daily tasks
• Preventing infection
• Preventing muscle-mass loss
• Helping to maintain a healthy weight
• Slowing down the progression of kidney disease

When consuming protein, it must be a high-quality protein such as chicken, fish, lean meats, and eggs. Avoid processed or canned meats as they tend to be high in sodium.

Too much sodium can cause fluid buildup, swelling, higher blood pressure, and strain on your heart. Renal diets tend to be low in sodium for that reason.

Too much or too little potassium in the blood can be very dangerous. Factors such as how well your kidneys are working and your medications determine the amount of potassium you need.

As kidney function gets lower, extra phosphorus can start building up in the blood. High phosphorus levels can cause bones to get weaker. Foods that are rich in calcium are often high in phosphorus. Your dietitian or healthcare provider will tell you if you need to limit calcium.

Calories are like fuel. If you don’t eat enough calories, your body will use protein from your muscles for energy, making you weak and potentially causing damage to your kidneys. Consuming the right amount of calories will help you maintain a healthy weight.

Foods in our mechanical and pureed menu have a softer, smoother texture than most food. Meals taste the same as they would in traditional fare, but the consistency is different.

As we age, normal wear and tear on the esophagus can increase our risk of dysphagia, a persistent condition that makes swallowing difficult. Dysphagia impacts our ability to move what we eat or drink to our stomachs and can lead to malnutrition, dehydration, and unwanted weight loss.

Our mechanical menu is for those who can tolerate various consistencies. Included foods require less chewing than usual, such as chopped, ground, and pureed items.

Our pureed menu includes foods that do not require any chewing. Foods may be blended or strained to reach the right consistency. The foods taste the same, but the texture and consistency are different.